Pipe tobacco pouch



06L 1969 J. H. SEXSTONE PIPE TOBACCO POUCH Filed March 18, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

M R n m6 wi I M J I 4;): ATTORNEYS Oct. 7, 1969 J. H. sExs'roNE PIPETOBACCO POUCH 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed March 18, 1.968

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- WNVENTOR Jfl/M H. SEXSfO/YE ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,471,005 PIPE TOBACCO POUCH John H. Sexstone, Louisville, Ky, assignor to Brown &

Williamson Tobacco Corporation, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Delaware 7 Filed Mar. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 713,844

'Int. Cl. A24f 23/02 US. Cl. 206-41 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE ing the pipe tobacco. The top of the compartment is sealed by interrupted elongated sealed areas extending substantially in-line across the top of each panel and between the respective marginal side edges thereof. This interrupted seal arrangement cooperates in maintaining the freshness of the tobacco while at the same time providing easy access to the pouch interior by permitting this seal to be readily broken without tearing or rupturing the panels. The rear panel is provided with an extension flap which is adapted to be folded over the exterior of the front panel. The free end of the flap is provided with an opening across which a patch having a pressure-sensitive adhesive surface is placed. That portion of the adhesive surface exposed through the hole is adapted to be sealed against the exterior of the front panel to provide a releasable closure for the pouch.

Pipe tobacco pouches of one form or another have been proposed in the past and although some of these proposed designs have been unsatisfactorywhile others satisfactory none have attained the major objectives of containers of this type. In this connection the overall cost of the pouch should be below acceptable limits including the cost of theconstituent materials and the manner in which the pouch is made and sealed. The sealing properties of the pouch should be such as to maintain the freshness of the contained tobacco over prolonged periods of storage and duringshipment. However, ready access should be provided to the pouch interior by the ultimate consumer. Of course, the seal of the pouch should be capable of being easily broken without tearing or rupturing the walls of the pouch that serve to contain the tobacco. Once the seal is broken for purposes of obtaining access to the pouch interior it is desirable to provide means for closing the pouch after each opening and consumption of part of the pouch contents to not only maintain the freshness of the tobacco but to prevent undesirable spillage.

The trade has given consideration to the pouch of the type disclosed in the Salway Patent No. 3,278,109, granted Oct. 11, 1966 for containing a pipe tobacco product. This patent discloses a flexible walled pouch formed from laminated sheet material in .which a single bar type of heat seal extends across the entire mouth of the pouch. This seal is intended to be broken by peeling apart the sealed walls for purposes of obtaining access to the pouch interior. However, more often than not this type of heatsealed pouch opening results in tearing or rupturing of the walls of the pouch when an attempt is. made to break the seal. When this occurs, there will inevitably be a loss of tobacco freshness and a good opporttmity for the tobacco 3,471,005 Patented Oct. 7, 1969 to be spilled under the most undesirable of circumstances.

It is the principal object of this invention to vastly improve upon the teachings of the above patent by providing a flexible walled pipe tobacco pouch that is low in cost and presents an effective seal across the pouch opening to retain the freshness of the tobacco and which is readily opened by the ultimate consumer without tearing or rupturing the pouch walls.

Another object is to provide a pouch of this type which is provided with an interrupted or intermittent heat seal pattern across the pouch opening which reduces to an absolute minimum the possibility of the walls of the pouch to tear or rupture upon manually breaking the seal to obtain access to the pouch interior.

A further object is to provide a pouch of this type which is provided with a supplemental flap closure which contributes to the maintenance of the freshness of the tobacco once the heat seal has been broken and which minimizes loss of the tobacco and unintentional spillage thereof from the pouch interior.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description which is to be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating somewhat preferred embodiments of the invention and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a tobacco pouch incorporating the teachings of the present invention with the flap closure shown in an extended open position and prior to incorporation therein of the pipe tobacco and the hermetic sealing of the open top of the pouch;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the pouch with the pipe tobacco inserted therein and the top sealed and the closure flap folded into a closed position across the front panel of the pouch;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the top of the pouch showing the intermittent spaced heat-sealed areas arranged in two staggered rows;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5 showing the sealed top with the graspable finger gripping flap of the front panel folded or deflected in a manner to facilitate breaking of the heat seal;

FIG. 7 is a similar fragmentary sectional view showing the sealed top opening immediately after it has been unsealed;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the opened pouch containing tobacco with the closure flap folded into a closed position;

FIG. 9 is a similar perspective view showing the flap in an open position and the unsealed top manually opened for providing access to the contained tobacco;

FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of the pouch of this invention in which the closure flap is provided with a pressure-sensitive adhesive patch for facilitating the retention of the flap in a releasably closed position; and

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional View taken along the line 11-11 of FIG. 10 showing the flap in this closed position accompanied by a phantom showing of the flap in the process of being folded to an opened position.

Referring now to the drawings a pouch 20 of this invention is formed from a laminated sheet of material which may assume a number of different forms and be made of a wide variety of lamina. The material is preferably of the type that is capable of being heat-sealed for product protection. A successful laminated sheet material was formed from 24-lb. transparent glassine that is capable of being reverse printed. This glassine material had thermoplastically laminated thereto .0035 inch metal foil on which 1 mil of polyethylene was extruded onto the exposed metal surface. A laminated structure of this type is clearly shown in the enlarged fragmentary sectional view of FIGS. 6 and 7.

The pouch 20 is formed essentially of one piece of the sheet material and includes a front panel 22 and a rear panel 24 integrally connected along their respective bases by a folded pleat 26. The associated marginal side edges of the panels 22 and 24 are heat-sealed together in a hermetic fashion along zones 28 and 30. The rear panel 24 is provided with an integral closure flap 32 which is adapted to be folded over the exterior of the front panel 22. The front panel 22 on the other hand is provided with an upper extension 34 folded inwardly upon the inner face of the front panel 22. It will be noted in FIG. 1 that the sealed zones 28 and 30 extend partly into the area of association of the front panel 22 and its extension 34. The panels 22 and 24 define a top or mouth 36 which when open is adapted to receive the selected tobacco product which may be in the form of pipe tobacco 38 (FIG. 4).

Upon insertion of the selected tobacco product 38 into the pouch interior, the top 36 of the pouch is adapted to be hermetically sealed in a manner to protect the tobacco and maintain its freshness over prolonged periods of storage and shipment while at the same time rendering it relatively easy to manually open the pouch without tearing, rupturing or destroying the structural integrity of the pouch particularly the front panel 22 and rear panel 24. The seal across the pouch top 36 preferably assumes the form of intermittent or spaced elongated sealed areas 40 arranged in at least one row 42 and preferably two rows as shown clearly in FIG. Where the sealed areas 40 of the respective rows 42 and 44 are arranged in staggered relationship. The spacing of the rows 42 and 44 as well as the spacing between sealed areas 40 and the shape and size of these areas should be selected to in effect provide a hermetic seal across the pouch top 36 while at the same time permit relatively easy breaking of the seal manually by merely pulling apart the finger graspable portions of the tops of the front panel and rear panel 24. In a successful application of the present invention rows 42 and 44 were spaced approximately one-eighth of an inch apart as was the spacing between the individual sealed areas 40. The width of the sealed areas 40 in this instance was one-sixteenth of an inch and the length was one-half inch. The top row 42 was located approximately three-eighths of an inch from the top edge of the front panel 22. In fact, FIG. 5 is approximately, to scale, this successful pouch application. Obviously, other dimensioning and spacing may be employed and one or more other rows of the intermittent sealed areas 40 may be employed in furtherance of the aforementioned objects and criteria.

With particular reference to the enlarged sectional views of FIGS. 6 and 7 and the readily discernible lamina depicted therein, it will be appreciated that the sealed zones 28 and 30 constitute fused areas of the selected thermoplastic resin. This is also true insofar as the intermittently fused interface between the rear face of the front panel 22 and the extension 34 is concerned. However, the fused intermittent areas between the rear panel 24 and the outer face of the extension 34 is not fusion of one thermoplastic layer to another as in the previous case but the adherence of the thermoplastic to the selected carrier which in the discussed embodiment is glassine. This adhesion is, of course, not as strong as the direct fusion of the thermoplastic surfaces and accordingly upon breaking the sealed areas 40 across the pouch top 36 the seal zones 28 and 30 will remain substantially intact and the eXtension 34 will remain in firm adhesion with the rear of the front panel 22. In order to effectuate the breaking of this seal the closure flap 32 is folded to an open position and the rear panel 24 and the front panel 22 and extension 34 are grasped between the heat-sealed row 42 and pouch top 36. The grasped parts are then pulled away from one another which movement will eventuate in the breaking of the sealed areas 40 between the extension 34 and rear panel 24 in a manner depicted by FIG. 7. When the sealed areas 40 of the rows 42 and 44 are broken the contained tobacco 38 may then be removed. Following the removal of the desired amount of tobacco the flap 32 need only be folded across the front face of the front panel 22 to close the pouch for purposes of maintaining the freshness of the tobacco and to prevent its loss. Under these circumstances the pouch 20 may be conveniently carried in a purse or pocket of the consumer.

The present invention also contemplates a releasable means for closing the flap 32 against the front panel 22 so that only a deliberate movement or force applied to the flap will permit the pouch top or mouth 36 to be opened once the sealed areas 40 have been broken. Thus, in FIGS. 10 and 11 a patch 46 having a pressure-sensitive surface 48 is applied across an opening 50 in the flap 32'. In this manner the desired association of the flap 32' relative to the front panel 22 is assured particularly after the breaking of the sealed areas 40 by the consumer. In order to gain access to the contained tobacco, the consumer need only grasp the flap 32 adjacent its free end; and merely by pulling it outwardly relative to the front panel 22', break the releasably adhered interface between the pressure-sensitive adhesive 48 and the front face of the panel 22'. After the desired amount of tobacco has been removed from the pouch interior, the flap 32' need only be folded over the outer face of the front panel 22' and slight pressure then applied to the patch 46 to adhere the pressure-sensitive surface 48 to the associated surfaces of the front panel 22'. In this embodiment, those parts corresponding with the previously described embodiment will be similarly numbered with an accompanying prime.

I claim:

1. A tobacco pouch for containing tobacco in a hermetically sealed manner and for providing easy access to the tobacco while maintaining the structural integrity of the pouch comprising:

a front panel having top, bottom and side edges;

a rear panel having top, bottom and side edges;

integral means joining the front and rear panel at their respective bottom edges;

first sealing means uniting the front and rear panels at their respective marginal side edges;

tobacco interposed between the panels and said means;

a second sealing means sealing the front and rear panels adjacent their respective top edges, said second sealing means comprising interrupted elongated sealed areas extending in-linc from essentially one side edge to the other side edge of the panels, the interrupted sealed areas operating to maintain the freshness of the tobacco in the pouch and providing easy access to the pouch interior and the tobacco therein without tearing and rupturing the panels; finger gripping flaps extending across the top edges of the front and rear panels between the respective side edges thereof with the second sealing means being disposed intermediate said finger gripping flaps and the tobacco in the pouch whereby the finger gripping flaps may be gripped and pulled apart for purposes of breaking the seal created by the second sealing means to provide access to the pouch interior and the tobacco therein; a closure flap integrally hinged with the rear panel and adapted to be folded over the top edge of the front panel and over a major part of the exposed face of the front panel;

an opening provided in the closure flap adjacent its free end and a patch disposed over said opening, said patch having a pressure-sensitive adhesive on one face thereof securing the patch to surfaces of the closure flap, the pressure-sensitive adhesive surface extending across the opening into engagement with the exposed face of the front panel to thereby adhesively connect the closure flap with the front panel which adhesive connection is adapted to be broken upon pulling the closure flap outwardly away from the front panel about the hinged connection;

the elongated sealed areas of the second sealing means being arranged in two rows extending across and parallel to the top edges of the panels, the rows being spaced from one another and the elongated sealed areas of one row being interdigitated with respect to the elongated sealed areas of the other row;

the pouch being formed from a single sheet of material one face of which is comprised of a layer of thermoresponsive adhesive material, the layer of adhesive material being disposed on the inner face of the rear panel and inner face of the front panel;

the first sealing means comprising the fusing of the layer of adhesive material on the rear panel and the layer of the adhesive material on the front panel along the marginal side edges thereof;

the front panel including an integrally hinged extension 20 folded inwardly into direct engagement with the interior face of the front panel, and the second sealing means comprising interrupted elongated sealed areas 6 of the adhesive material heat-sealed to the front panel extension, and the extension having its adhesive layer heat-sealed to the associated adhesive layer of the front panel in a pattern of elongated sealed areas which mate with the elongated sealed areas of the second sealing means; the sheet material comprising metallized foil, and the sheet material including a carrier layer on which the metallized foil and adhesive layer is disposed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,149,772 9/1964 Olsson 22962 FOREIGN PATENTS 90,460 2/ 195 9 Netherlands.

JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

